Money and Credit - May 2026

Overview

These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system.

Key points:

• Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £2.9 billion in May, from £4.4 billion in April. This was below the previous 6-month average of £5.1 billion, and the lowest since May 2025 (£1.9 billion).
• Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 56,200 in May, below an average of 63,300 over the previous six months. Approvals for remortgaging also decreased, to 33,300 in May, from 51,200 in April.
• Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals remained largely unchanged, when compared to April at £1.7 billion in May. This was slightly below the previous 6-month average of £1.9 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.6 billion in May, down from £0.8 billion in April. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) increased to £1.1 billion in May, from £0.9 billion in April.
• Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) borrowed, on net, £1.1 billion of finance in May, following net borrowing of £5.4 billion in April. Within total net finance raised, bank loans amounted to £1.8 billion of borrowing in May, compared to £4.3 billion of net borrowing in April.
• The net flow of sterling money (M4ex) increased to £11.0 billion in May, from £9.2 billion in April. This was driven by non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) and households increasing their holdings of money by £6.4 billion and £5.4 billion respectively. These increases were slightly offset by PNFCs decreasing their money holdings by £0.8 billion.
• The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) decreased to £0.6 billion in May, following an increase of £11.5 billion in April. May’s lower net lending was driven by NIOFCs repaying £6.9 billion, compared to £2.1 billion net borrowing in April. This was partly offset by households and PNFCs borrowing £4.2 billion and £2.2 billion respectively, compared with £5.0 billion and £4.4 billion in April, respectively.

References in the text point to the summary tables below.

For further statistics, please see our visual summaries, Effective Rates (ER) statistical release, Capital Issuance statistical release, and Bankstats tables.

Lending to and deposits from individuals

Mortgage lending (M&C Tables D and E):

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £2.9 billion in May, from £4.4 billion in April. This was below the previous 6-month average of £5.1 billion, and the lowest since May 2025 (£1.9 billion). The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased slightly to 3.4% in May, from 3.3% in April.

Secured gross lending decreased slightly to £27.1 billion in May, from £27.4 billion in April, above the 6-month average of £25.3 billion. By contrast, repayments increased slightly in May, to £22.9 billion, from £22.6 billion in the previous month. This was above the 6-month average of £19.9 billion.

Note: The difference between gross lending minus repayments and net lending figures is due to varying seasonal adjustment methods applied across these series (see Chart 1).

Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 56,200 in May, from 66,000 in April. This was below the average of 63,300 over the previous six months, and the lowest since December 2023 (52,600). Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) also decreased, to 33,300 in May, from 51,200 in April.

The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages increased to 4.22% in May, from 4.08% in April. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was unchanged from April, at 3.92% in May.

Consumer credit (M&C Tables B and C):

In May, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals remained largely unchanged when compared to April, at £1.7 billion (Chart 3). This was slightly below the previous 6-month average of £1.9 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.6 billion in May, down from £0.8 billion in April. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) increased to £1.1 billion in May, from £0.9 billion in April.

The annual growth rate for all consumer credit was 8.9% in May, up from 8.7% in April. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing increased to 12.1% from 11.8%, and the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit increased to 7.5% from 7.4% (Chart 4).

The effective interest rate on interest-charging overdrafts decreased by 22 basis points, to 21.57% in May. The effective rate on new personal loans to individuals increased to 9.66% in May from 9.53% in April. The effective rate on interest-charging credit cards was 21.45% in May, up from 21.20% in the previous month.

Households’ deposits (M&C Table J):

Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased by £5.4 billion in May, following net deposits of £5.7 billion in April. This was driven by households depositing an additional £3.1 billion into ISAs and £1.3 billion into interest-bearing time accounts. These inflows were partially offset by withdrawals of £2.0 billion from interest-bearing sight deposit accounts and £0.3 billion from non-interest bearing accounts (Chart 5).

The effective interest rate paid on individuals’ new time deposits with banks and building societies increased to 4.26% in May from 4.07% in April. The effective rate on the outstanding stock of time deposits was 3.31% in May, compared to 3.29% in April, while the effective rate on the outstanding stock of sight deposits remained unchanged from April at 1.65% in May.

Lending to and deposits from businesses

Businesses’ borrowing from banks (M&C Tables G-I):

In May, UK non-financial businesses (PNFCs and public corporations) borrowed, on net, £1.2 billion of loans from banks and building societies (including overdrafts), following £5.1 billion of net borrowing in April. Within this measure, large non-financial businesses borrowed £1.3 billion, following net borrowing of £3.9 billion in April. Small and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) repaid, on net, £0.1 billion in May, following net borrowing of £1.2 billion in April.

The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses decreased to 9.8% in May, from 12.3% in April. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs decreased slightly, to 3.9% from 4.2% over the same period (Chart 6).

The effective interest rate on new loans from banks to UK PNFCs decreased by 17 basis points, to 5.35% in May. The effective interest rate on new loans to SMEs was 6.18% in May, compared to 6.16% in April.

Net Finance Raised (M&C Table F):

PNFCs borrowed, on net, £1.1 billion of finance in May, following net borrowing of £5.4 billion in April. This was driven by £1.8 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies, £0.5 billion of net commercial paper issuance, and £1.0 billion of net bond issuance. These increases were offset slightly by £1.2 billion of net equity buybacks (Chart 7).

Businesses’ deposits:

In May, UK non-financial businesses deposited £3.1 billion with banks and building societies in all currencies, following net withdrawals of £6.6 billion in April. The effective rate on new time deposits from PNFCs was 3.43% in May, compared to 3.44% in April, while the effective rate on stock sight deposits decreased slightly, to 1.92% from 1.94% over the same period.

Aggregate money (M4ex) and lending (M4Lex) (M&C Tables J and K)

The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) increased to £11.0 billion in May, from £9.2 billion in April (Chart 8). Within this, non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) and households increased their holdings of money by £6.4 billion and £5.4 billion respectively. These increases were slightly offset by PNFCs decreasing their money holdings by £0.8 billion.

The annual growth rate of M4ex was 4.8% in May, up from 4.6% in April.

The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) decreased to £0.6 billion in May, following an increase of £11.5 billion in April (Chart 9). May’s lower lending was driven by NIOFCs repaying £6.9 billion, compared to £2.1 billion net borrowing in April. This was partly offset by households and PNFCs borrowing £4.2 billion and £2.2 billion respectively, compared with £5.0 billion and £4.4 billion in April, respectively.

The annual growth rate of M4Lex decreased to 5.9% in May, from 6.4% in April.

Queries

If you have any comments or queries about this release, please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.

Next release date: 29 July 2026